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A Relic of Astrology. 1 13

A RELIC OF ASTROLOGY.!

The mysterious picture of a nude man surrounded by the signs

of the zodiac, which forms so common a feature in all patent-medi-

cine almanacs, is familiar to every one, but few realize the great

antiquity of the symbolism implied, and the interesting history of

this persistent relic of iastrology.

As commonly drawn for the last fifty years, the picture shows a

naked man with a melancholy expression, standing erect with out-

stretched limbs, having his bowels exposed in a manner that sug-

gests the martyrdom of Saint Erasmus ; his head, limbs, and divers

parts of his body are pierced by lines, reminding one of another

saint, Sebastian ; these lines lead from twelve singular objects sym-

metrically placed around the central figure, a leaping ram, playful

twins, a couching lion, a weary bull, a pair of scales, a conceited vir-

gin, a determined archer, a careless water-bearer, an agile goat, two

fishes crossed, a salt-water crab, and a tropical scorpion with a jointed

tail.

The connection between these twelve zodiacal signs and the humananatomy is set forth in the following lines, written in 1720:—

The Head and Face the Princely Ram doth rule.

The Neck and Throat falls to the sullen Bull.

The lovely Twins guide Shoulder, Arm and Hand,The slow pac'd Crab doth Breast and Spleen command.The Lion bold governs the Heart of Man.The Modest Maid doth on the Bowels scan.

The Reins and Loins are in the Ballance try'd,

The Scorpion the Secret Parts doth guide.

The Shooting Horse lays claim to both the Thighs

;

The Knees upon the Headstrong Goat relies.

The Waterman, he both the Legs doth claim,

The Fishes rule the Feet and meet the Ram again.

Moore's Vox Stellarum, 1721.

A study of the origin of this bizarre conception takes us back

to the earliest records of civilization ; its foundations were laid

by Chaldean astronomers, Hebrew sages, and Greek philosophers

;

Christian mystics adopted it and mediaeval astrologers magnified it,

so that it became a persistent popular superstition. The first step

in the evolution of this conception was taken more than 4000 years

ago, when the star-gazers of Babylon observed the circular zone

through which the sun appears to pass in the course of a year, and

divided it into twelve constellations, creating what is known as the

1 Read at the Baltimore meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society, Decem-

ber 28, 1897.

114 Journal ofAmerican,Folk-Lore.

Zodiac. To these twelve divisions symbols were given, some of

which are said to be Babylonian ideographs of the months. Theastronomers of Egypt adopted this system, and their lively imagina-

tions peopled the constellations with genii ; thus arose a symbolism

in which each group of stars is likened to a given animal or humancharacter ; these zodiacal signs are sculptured on the wall of the

temple of Denderah, on the Nile, and similar designs were found by

Champollion on mummy-cases and papyri. The twelve constella-

tions are enumerated in the old Latin verses,—Sunt Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo,

Libraque, Scorpius, Arcitenens, Caper, Amphora, Pisces.

and they are quaintly catalogued in the English lines :—

The ram and the bull lead off the line,

Next twins and crab and lion shine,

The virgin and the scales.

Scorpion and archer next are due.

The goat and water-bearer too,

And fish with glittering tails.

The second step was taken when philosophers, who "in the

infancy of science are as imaginative as poets," assumed that the

celestial spheres exert a controlling influence on terrestrial life. Thegerms of this belief existed among many people in very early times

;

the Chaldeans taught and the captive Hebrews adopted it. In the

earliest poetical book extant, the Almighty himself is represented as

saying to Job :—

" Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades, or loose

the bands of Orion ? Canst thou bring forth the Mazzaroth in

his season.' Or canst thou guide the Bear with her train.'" (Job

xxxviii. 31.) The word Mazzaroth signifies the signs of the zodiac.

Again, under the rule of the inspired Hebrew prophetess Deborah,

"the stars in their courses fought against Sisera."

The Greek philosophers Democritus (460 b. c), Plato, Pythagoras,

and the school of the Stoics gave astrology their sanction and ele-

vated it to a pseudo-science. The idea that man's life on earth and

destiny for good or for evil is subject to the heavenly bodies and

their relative positions was current in the early centuries of the

Christian Era ; astronomical tables were in common use on which

were marked the lucky and the unlucky days and even hours. Ona tombstone erected 364 A. d. in memory of an infant named Sim-

plicius (that died the same day it was born), there is an inscription

which states that this double event took place in the " fourth hour

of the night, of the 8th ides of May, the day of Saturn, the 20th day

of the moon, under the sign Capricorn." The details in this epi-

A Relic of Astrology. 115

taph are intended to account for the sad affliction suffered by the

parents :—

Almighty Wisdom by a Mistique TyeSpread through the World a Secret Sympathy,Impregnating Superiours to dispense

On lower Bodies daily influence.

Ames's Almanack, 1730.

As the centuries rolled on, belief in astrology grew apace andexerted a baleful influence on mankind, arousing alarming fears andextravagant hopes always doomed to disappointment ; it kept the

intellect in a " dreary bondage of ignorance and superstition," pre-

venting the growth of true science " by the incessant operation of

prejudice and the slavery of imbecile apprehensions." In the thir-

teenth century astronomy was rarely cultivated for its own sake

;

the movements of the moon and the planets were studied with a

view to determining holy days, and the stars were observed for the

purpose of casting horoscopes. Judiciary astrology became a species

of religion which the Church strove in vain to suppress as a relic of

paganism. In the Middle Ages astrologers were important per-

sonages, holding positions of honor at royal, ducal, and republican

courts, and no enterprise was undertaken before consulting them.

Astrologers were the successors of the Roman haruspices. At the

Universities of Bologna and Padua, chairs of astrology were regarded

as necessary to polite learning;physicians, especially, cultivated

astrology, and their practice was imbued with the grossest super-

stitions ; astrology was closely associated with the other pseudo-

sciences, alchemy and magic.

For several centuries the rising and setting of the stars, the

eclipses of the sun and moon, the appearance of comets, the aspects,

conjunctions, and oppositions of the planets, were thought to be inti-

mately related to the production as well as the relief of diseases.

The moon was believed to have special power over mental and bod-

ily maladies, as well as over the w;eather and minor concerns of life,

— a superstition that still lingers even in enlightened minds. Theposition of the moon in the constellations determined the proper

time for compounding and administering medicines,— a belief cur-

rent at a very early period among the Anglo-Saxons. The Venerable

Bede, referring to the travels of Bishop John, 685 A. d., states that

this ecclesiastic visited a sick maiden in the nunnery at Wotton,

Yorkshire, who lay at the point of death. The bishop inquired

when the maiden was bled, and, finding it was in quarta Luna, he

said : " Very unwisely and unlearnedly hast thou done this in quarta

Luna, for I remember Archbishop Theodore, of blessed memory,

saying that phlebotomy was perilous when the light of the moon and

the ocean tide are waxing."

1 1

6

Journal of American Folk-Lore.

Although forbidden by Jewish, Roman, and canon laws, astrology

flourished throughout the Middle Ages, and gave great impetus to

the study of the science of astronomy. Meanwhile a novel concep-

tion became engrafted on the pseudo-philosophy : the physical uni-

verse was regarded as an organized being endowed with a soul and

analogous to man ; an intimate correlation between the universe .and

man was held to exist, the universe controlling the destiny and

organism of man, and man having power over the fundamental laws

of nature. In this connection the terms Macrocosm and Microcosm

came into use, the former to designate the world at large, and the

latter the smaller world within man. Man, or the microcosm, wasregarded as the physical and spiritual epitome of the universe or

macrocosm. Olympiodorus, of the Greek school in Alexandria,

about the fourth century, wrote of the macrocosm and microcosm,

but the clearest explanation of this philosophy is found in the

"Epistle of Isis, Queen of Egypt and wife of Osiris, to her son

Horus ;

" this is one of the Greco-Egyptian writings on the " Sacred

Art," of unknown authorship and obscure origin. The passage is

as follows :" Hermes calls man the microcosm, because the man,

or the small world, contains all that which is included in the macro-

cosm, or great world. Thus the macrocosm has small and large ani-

mals, both terrestrial and aquatic ; man, on the other hand, has fleas

and lice ; these are the terrestrial animals ; also intestinal worms

;

these are aquatic animals. The macrocosm has rivers, springs, and

seas ; man has internal organs, intestines, veins, and channels. Themacrocosm has aerial animals ; man has gnats and other winged

insects. The macrocosm has volatile spirits, such as winds, thun-

ders, and lightnings ; man has internal gases and pordas of diseases.

The macrocosm has two luminaries, the sun and moon; man has

also two luminaries, the right eye, representing the sun, and the left

eye, the moon. The macrocosm has mountains and hills ; man has

a head and ears. The macrocosm has twelve signs of the zodiac

;

man has them also, from the lobe of the ear to the feet, which are

called the fishes."

The date of this writing is not certainly known, but it is approxi-

mately of the fourth or fifth century.

The expressions macrocosm and microcosm are constantly metwith in astrological, medical, and theosophical works of the MiddleAges. Paracelsus taught that man is a microcosm in comparison

with the earth, and a macrocosm as compared with an atom of mat-

ter; the relationship between them forms a special science called

by Paracelsus Astronomia. The forces controlling the two are iden-

tical, and in both they may act in an abnormal manner, creating dis-

eases ; man may be affected with spasms, dropsy, colic, and fevers;

A Relic of Astrology. 117

the earth may be affected with earthquakes, rain-spouts, storms, andlightnings.

The noted physician and mystic, Robert Fludd, who was "not

wholly a quack," wrote at length on the macrocosm and the micro-

cosm. (Utriusque cosmi, etc., 161 7.) A little later another English

astrologer and physician, Nicholas Culpeper, expressed the relation

between the two worlds as follows :" There is a sympathy between

Celestiall and Terestriall bodyes which will easily appear if we con-

sider that the whole creation is one entire and united body, com-

posed by the power of an Allwise God of a composition of discords.

Also there is friendship and hatred between one sign of the zodiac

and another, for fiery signs are contrary to watry and nocturnall

to diurnall, etc." ("Astrological Judgment of Diseases," London,

1655.)

John Baptist van Helmont, the distinguished Dutch physician

;

Jacob Boehme, the German theosophist ; and much later Sweden-

borg, the apostle of the New Jerusalem, — discussed the mutual in-

fluence of the macro- and micro-cosm.

This "wicked stupefaction of the mind," astrology, has been kept

alive during the past four hundred years largely through the wide

dissemination of almanacs. These useful allies of every-day life

originated in tables prepared by Arabian astronomers for the pur-

pose of a calendar, and through Alexandrian Greeks they became

known in Europe. A manuscript almanac compiled in 1300 by

Petrus of Dacia contains an ill-arranged medley of astronomical,

chronological, and medical nonsense. After the invention of print-

ing, these ephemeral publications came into general use, and from

the beginning they mingled truth with error : they truthfully chron-

icled memorable events of history, they correctly indicated the divi-

sions of the year and the beginnings of seasons, and they announced

the proper days for ecclesiastical feasts and fasts ; on the other hand,

they mendaciously foretold the changes in the weather, and pro-

phesied the future in respect to national, civic, and individual life.

The printing of almanacs under James I. was monopolized by the

Stationers' Company and by the universities ; but notwithstanding

these respectable sponsors, the annuals were filled with astrology

and vain superstitions. In France the almanacs issued under the

name Nostradamus (1550-1566) essayed political predictions, which

immensely increased its popularity, but exerted such mischievous

influence that Henry III. in 1579 promulgated an edict forbid-

ding astrological features. British almanacs, during the civil wars

of Charles I., "became conspicuous for the unblushing boldness of

their astrological predictions and their determined perpetuation of

popular errors." The most famous astrologer of England, William

VOL. XI.— NO. 41. 9

1 1

8

Journal of American Folk-Lore.

Lilly, began to print his Epheraeris in 1644, and his forecasts of

monstrous floods, prodigious shipwrecks, murrain in cattle, epidemic

diseases, and judgments of things to come, were terrifying to the

credulous masses.

The supposed influence of the zodiacal signs on medicine and

on personal actions is shown in a curious passage in the " Husband-

man's Practice or Prognostication for ever," published at Londonin 1664:—

" Good to purge with electuaries, the moon in Cancer ; with pills,

the moon in Pisces ; with potions, the moon in Virgo. Good to take

vomits^ the moon being in Taurus, Virgo, or the latter part of Sagit-

tarius ; to purge the head by sneezing, the moon being in Cancer,

Leo, or Virgo ; to stop fluxes and rheums, the moon being in Taurus,

Virgo, or Capricorn ; to bathe when the moon is in Libra, Aquarius,

or Pisces ; to cut the hair off the head or beard when the moon is in

Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius, or Pisces."

The association of astrology with medicine naturally led to the

adoption of almanacs as a means for advertising quack medicines ;

this is said to have originated with Francis Moore,^ editor of " VoxStellarum," published at London from 1698. But this is a mistake,

for I have found a medical advertisement in the " Merlini Anglici

Ephemeris " of 1671. The nostrum is called " Elixir Proprietatis,"

and it is "composed and sold at the sign of Van Helmont in upper

Shadwell, London." The advertisement describes it as an " effectual

medicine for griping of the guts, putrid Feavers," and other distress-

ing maladies.

For more than two hundred years almanacs have been the efficient

channel for bringing to the notice of the semi-illiterate and wholly

credulous on both sides of the Atlantic puffs of medical nostrums

and their amazing curative powers. Gadbury's " Ephemeris " for

1 72 1 contains a good example : "Squire's Grand Elixir, or the Great

Restoration of the World so much on the Wings of Fame, for Con-

sumptions, Colds, Coughs . . . Pleurises, Measles, Smallpox, Gout,

Rheumatism, Gravel, Colics, Fainting and Decay of Spirits. Onlyprepar'd and Sold by Capt. Joseph Bawler, Apothecary in Jewin St.

Good Allowances to those who take Dozens. Ready Money expected

of all Strangers."

Richard Saunders's " Apollo Anglicana " for 1 72 1 contains an inter-

esting advertisement of sterling value :" Artificial teeth set in so

firm as to Eat with them, and so Exact as not to be distinguished from

Natural ; they are not to be taken out every Night as is by somefalsely suggested, but may be worn Years together ; and are an Orna-

* A pseudonym of Henry Andrews, and retained by successive editors of the

Vox Stellarum.

A Relic of Astrology. 1 1 g

ment to the Mouth and greatly helpful to the Speech. By JohnWatts and Samuel Rutter, Operators, Fleet St. London."The firm hold which these medico-astrological almanacs had on the

people is shown in a circumstance related by Dr. Robert Fletcher

in his charming and erudite essay, " The Witches Pharmacopoeia."

A well-to-do farmer who was ordered to take a purgative declined to

swallow it because on looking into the almanac he found that the

zodiacal sign for the month was in bowels, and he thought that

the two together would be too much for him !

The pictorial representation of the influence of the zodiac onhuman anatomy occurs as early as the end of the fifteenth century.

It is found in that famous encyclopaedia, the " Margarita Philosophica"

of Gregor Reisch, published at Heidelberg in 1496. In the edition of

1 504 the signs of the zodiac are in part superimposed on the body of

the man, and in part placed around him ; ^ it is amusingly described

by Robert Southey in "The Doctor" : "There Homo stands naked but

not ashamed, upon the two Pisces, one foot upon each ; the fish being

neither in the air, nor water, nor upon the earth, but self-suspended

as it appears in the void. Aries has alighted with two feet on Homo'shead, and has sent a shaft through the forehead into his brain.

Taurus has quietly seated himself across his neck. The Gemini are

riding astride a little below his right shoulder ; the whole trunk is

laid open, as if part of the old accursed punishment for high treason

had been performed upon him. The Lion occupies the thorax as his

proper domain, and the Crab is in possession of the abdomen. Sagit-

tarius volant in the void has just let fly an arrow which is on the

way to his right arm. Capricornus breathes out a visible influence

that penetrates both knees ; Aquarius inflicts similar punctures upon

both legs. • Vifgo fishes as it were at Hi intestines j Libra at the

part affected by schoolmasters in their anger ; and Scofprd-takes the

wickedest aim of all." ("The Doctor," vol. iii. p. 112, 1835.)"~~-'

A somewhat similar woodcut occurs in "A Short Application of

Astrology to Medicine," by James Scholl, published at Strasburg in

1537.2 It differs, however, from that in the " Margarita Philosophica"

1 The accompanying text is as follows :" Aries signum primum calidum est,

siccum, igneum et cholericum ex corporis compage caput sibi vendicans. Taurus

. . . colla respicit ; Gemini . . . brachia intuetur ; Cancer obtinet pectus, pul-

monem et stomachum ; Leo cor et epar regit ; Virgo cum Tauro concordat sed

intestina et fundum stomachi vendicat. Libra vero cum Gemini congruit, sed

venes et nates respicit ; Scorpio cum Cancro in qualitatibus congreditur sed pu-

denda intuetur. Sagittarius rursum cum Ariete et Leone coincidit et coxas inten-

dit ; Capricornus cum Tauro item et cum Virgine concordat sed genua gubernat

;

Aquarius cum Gemini et Libra convenit, sed cruribus et tibiis prseest ; Pisces vero

in qualitatibus a Cancro non deviant, sed pedes vendicant."

^ Astrologia ad medicinam adplicatio brevis. Argentorati, 1537, sm. 4to. 111.

1 20 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

in that all the animals and objects typifying the zodiacal signs are

placed directly on the body of the man. The ram is resting on the

man's head ; the bull is comfortably seated on and behind his neck

;

a twin child is climbing up each arm to the shoulder ; a crab (as

drawn, it is a lobster) attacks his breast ; a lion is squeezed in between

the lobster and the head of a virgin, who in turn encroaches on the

scales beneath her. Under the scales a scorpion is getting in deadly

work. On the man's right thigh a centaur shoots an arrow into

space ; a goat is springing from one knee to the other, his hind feet

touching the right knee and his forefeet the left ; beneath this a

merman pours water from a jar on the two fishes which lie crossed

between the man's feet.

Shakespeare, in the play of Coriolanus, written about 1610, alludes

to this emblem. Menenius says to Sicinius : "If you see this in the

map of my microcosm, follow it that I am known well enough, too ?

"

(Cor. ii. I.)

Shakespearean scholars have either failed to understand this

phrase, " map of my microcosm," or they have overlooked its real

meaning. Clarke & Wright's Cambridge edition of Shakespeare's

plays, Richard Grant White's edition, Dyce's Glossary, and Gervinus's

Commentaries make no note of it ; Rolfe, Hudson, and Schmidt's

Lexicon simply indicate that microcosm signifies " the little world

of man." Henry Irving's edition treats the word microcosm morefully, but none of these commentators pay any attention to the en-

tire phrase. In Shakespeare's time the word " map " was used in the

sense of a graphic delineation of anything ; and the expression, " mapof the microcosm," obviously refers to the emblematic representation

of the influence of the macrocosm on the microcosm. In 1642 H.

Browne published a work having the title, " Map of the-Microcosm."

An examination of

A musty pile of almanacs, Astrology's last home,

that were published in England and the United States between 1659

and 1897, shows that this emblem, modified in various ways, was

introduced into these publications about the end of the seventeenth

century.^ It is found in the New England Almanac of 1703, edited

by Samuel Clough, Boston (A. R. Spofiford). In "Great Britain's

Diary" for 1721, the central figure takes the form of a woman seated

on a sphere, the outer edge of which is divided into segments, and

surrounded by the names and signs of the twelve constellations.

The engraving is exceedingly crude, and it is accompanied by the

1 The emblem is not found in the following almanacs : Zech. Brigden's, Cam-bridge, 1659; Sam Cheever's, Cambridge, 1660; Israel Chauncy's, Cambridge,

1662, 1663; Alexander Nowell's, Cambridge, 1665.

A Relic of Astrology. 121

following lines, showing that the emblem was no novelty at that early

date :—

Should I omit to place this figure here

My Book would scarcely sell another Year.

What (quoth my Country Friend) D'ye think I HI buy

An Almanack without tK Anatomy f

As for its Use, nor he nor I can tell

;

However since it pleases all so well

I 've put it in, because my Book shou'd sell."

The same emblem appears in John Wing's " Olympia Domata " for

1721, and in Nathaniel 'Ames's Almanack for 1729, issued at Boston,

accompanied by these verses :—

The Blackamoor may as easily change his skin

As Men forsake the Ways they 're brought up in.

Therefore I 've set the old AnatomyHoping to please my Countrymen thereby.

But where 's the Man that 's born & lives amongCan please a Fickle throng ?

In Henry Coley's "Merlinus Anglicus, junior, or Starry Mes-

senger," for 1 72 1, the figure is similarly placed, but is that of a man.

In Job Gadbury's " Ephemeris, or Astronomical, Astrological, and

Meteorological Diary" for 1721, the figure that symbolizes "TheGovernment of the Moon over the Body of Man as she passeth the

twelve zodiacal constellations" takes a very different form. Asmiling and plump cherub with curly hair, his hands folded across

his breast, his body curved backward, his feet turned up behind his

head, floats within a circle, around which are the zodiacal signs.

Beneath this is the " Dystich : "—Head, throat, arms, breast, heart, belly, veins do greet

The secrets, thighs, knees, legs and th' active feet.

Over the name of-eaefe- ©r|;afiiSTlie approprfet :f'%igi.. On the same

page is^the following quotation :" When I consider the Hea'^?&H§f

the Works of Thy Fingers, the Sun, Moon & Stars which Thouhast ordained, what is Man that Thou art mindful of him !

" (Psalm

viii. 3, 4.)

Poor Robin's Almanac for 1721 is embellished with the floating

cherub, and the issue for 1 729 adds the following stanza :—

The little Mortal in the Ring below

Drawn Neck & Heels, doth to the Reader showThat part of Men & Women, Sheep & Swine

Are govern'd by each Celestial Sign

;

But Women's Tongues, when Passion once gets vent.

Break out from this & other Government

!

Benjamin Franklin, with all his enlightenment, introduced this

emblem into his famous Poor Richard's Almanac. It first appears in

122 jfournal of American Folk-Lore.

the issue for 1741, being drawn as a man seated on a globe sur-

rounded by the twelve signs, in a square ; and above is the legend :—

Here I sit naked like some Fairy Elf

My Seat a Pumkin ; I grudge no Man's Pelf.

Though I 've no Bread nor Cheese upon my Shelf

I '11 tell the gratis, when it safe is

To purge, to bleed, to cut thy Cattle or thyself.

The same number contains an advertisement of Indian Physic

(Ipecacuana), signed John Bertram.

Still another form of the emblem is found in Poulson'.s " Town &Country Almanac," published at Philadelphia in 1789. A boy stands

on the earth, his feet in the Arctic regions, on his right a rosebush,

on his left a thistle. Above the boy's head flies Chronos with wings,

scythe, and hour-glass. Around these figures are four concentric

rings, bearing the names and signs of the twelve constellations.

The present prevailing form of the emblem, the erect man sur-

rounded by symbols, appears in Richard Saunders's " Poor Richard,

Improv'd," for 1783 ; a slight variation of it occurs in "Father Tam-many's Almanac" for 1787, both published in Philadelphia, and from

that date to this year this persistent relic of astrology makes its

annual appearance. No explanation of the significance of the repul-

sive figure is vouchsafed beyond the customary legend :" Anatomy of

a Man's Body as governed by the twelve constellations." It has

been a valuable trade-mark for a century.

Far less common than this emblem is one showing the supposed

influence of the zodiacal signs on human physiognomy. Erra Pater's

" Book of Knowledge " (Worcester, n. d.) contains a crude woodcut

of a man's head, upon which are placed the twelve signs in the fol-

lowing order :—

ZODIAC AND PHYSIOGNOMY.

Upper forehead

Right eyebrow

Right eye

Right ear

Left eye

Left eyebrow .

Left ear

Forehead

.

Chin

NoseRight cheek

Left cheek

Caiici^i

.

Leo.

Saggitarius.

Libra.

Aquarius.

Gemini.

Aries.

Taurus.

Capricorn.

Scorpio.

Virgo.

Pisces.

Erra Pater further writes :" There is no part of the face of man

but what is under the peculiar influence or government of the seven

planets," and he gives the following table :—

A Relic of Astrology. 123

Forehead Mars.Right eye Sol.

Left eye Moon.Right ear Jupiter.

Left ear Saturn.

Nose Venus.

Mouth Mercury.

Modern pretenders to a belief in the influence of the zodiac onhuman life are as bold in their claims as the most superstitious charla-

tans of the seventeenth century. One writing in 1894 represents

the physical framework of man as merely " a vessel of breath, motion

and vibration played upon by active thought-atmospheres, waves of

sound and light, and positive and negative electro-magnetic forces in

limitless activity." We are told there is no such thing as Fatality,

and "true polarity is true harmony; it exists in human beings, ani-

mals, vegetables, plants, thought, philosophy, religion, and spirit, in

light and darkness, good and evil."' (Eleanor Kirk.) And we are

assured that, although each of the twelve signs points to a weak or

vulnerable part of the body, they have no power of the spiritualized

man, spirit being absolute over matter. It appears, moreover, that

" Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricornus, and Pisces are cold,

feminine, nocturnal, and unfortunate; while Aries, Gemini, Leo,

Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius are hot, masculine, fortunate, and

diurnal."

The following citation gives a faint idea of the method of thought

as set forth to-day :—

"Aries, the ram ; March 21 to April 19. It is the head sign of

the Grand Man ; cardinal, masculine, equinoctial, and movable, the

positive pole of the Fire Triplicity. People born under Aries are

usually very executive, earnest, and determined, also noble, generous,

magnetic, and have occult powers and metaphysical tastes ; good

scholars and great talkers. Persons born when the sun is well cen-

tred in Aries may attain the rhythmic swing of their regenerative

centres, and there arises an electro-magnetic solar fluid which is so

powerful that it can be cast to a great distance."

On the other hand, " Sagittarius, which governs the thighs, is a

masculine, diurnal, eastern, double-bodied, choleric, dual, fortunate

sign of the zodiac," and persons born under it "aim well and hit

the mark in all matters."

The modern astrologer undertakes to predict the personal appear-

ance, characteristic temperament, dominant faults, prevalent diseases,

and love affairs, as well as the character of unborn children of per-

sons born under each of the twelve constellations. One born under

Aries should marry another born under Sagittarius. For an Aries

1 24 yournal ofAmerican Folk-Lore.

person the " governing planets are Mars and Neptune, and the gems

are Brazilian amethyst and diamond. The astral colors are white

and rose pink."

This " craft by means whereof knaves practise on fools " is nowenjoying a revival in both Europe and America. Several periodicals

are devoted to its propaganda. As recently as August, 1897, a

monthly magazine was started in New York city, the promoters of

which aim to " place intelligently before its readers such facts and

teachings of this mother science as will make it universally knownand respected as in the days of the ancients, when it not only ranked

the highest of all sciences, but was their accepted religion as well."

The editor will endeavor to " purge the science of the fortune-telling

element which so long has been its curse."

The contents of No. i of this journal are very elementary; its

signed articles are written by professional astrologists, whose adver-

tisements occupy several pages. As a great inducement each sub-

scriber is promised, not a chromo, but a " Free Horoscope of Events

for 1897 and 1898 " on condition of sending the date of birth. Thetitle-page of this insensate periodical is appropriately ornamented

with a blazing sun, crescent moon, stars of every magnitude, planets

and comets, surrounded by the symbols of the zodiac.

In December, 1897, a social club was established by women in

New York city. It is called the Zodiac, and its object is the thor-

ough study of the influence of the zodiac upon human life. Thefirst meeting was attended by about fifty women, and they propose

to take up the constellations systematically month by month. Theauthor of the book above cited is honorary president of the club.

All the officers and active members are women, but there is an

advisory committee of men.

This organization is too young to predicate its failure or its suc-

cess. The ladies can say with Longfellow :—

By what astrology of fear or hope

Did I cast thy horoscope ?

Medicine and astrology are not entirely separated even in 1897.

There is to-day in France a mystical school of practitioners whocall their system " Hermetic Homoeopathy," and make preposterous

claims of success in healing by their ridiculous methods. Followers

of this school maintain that every physician should be an astrologer

if he hopes to administer medicine to the greatest advantage. AGerman physician and writer on theosophical subjects, Dr. Franz

Hartman, calls astrology one of the four pillars of medicine ; andboth the French and German Hermetic Homoeopathists cite with

approval the wildest extravagances of Paracelsus.

A Relic of Astrology. 125

Postscript. A few days after finishing the preceding pages, I metwith surprising evidence of the popularity of this superstition. Acrowd of people on Pennsylvania Avenue were examining with be-

wilderment and awe a large chart hung against a dead-wall. It

portrayed the " Influence of the Zodiac and the Planets upon HumanLife," and was exhibited by an agent of the " Faust Institute of Solar

Biology, Ocult Science, Astro-Phrenology, and Biblical History,"

situated in Philadelphia. The chart itself consisted of vividly colored

concentric circles divided into twelve segments, corresponding to

the twelve constellations, surrounding a man's head marked to showphrenological development. At intervals on the chart appeared the

signs of the planets and of the zodiac, the symbolic figure of man's

anatomy, and other astrological characters. Beneath the chart were

twelve wooden pigeon-holes filled with printed folders.

On approaching the exhibitor he inquired, " In what month were

you born ? " In response to the information, he handed me a folder

for Aquarius, with my horoscope, which contained the usual plati-

tudes about "how to succeed," "latent talent," and a promise to

write a fuller horoscope for one dollar. The folder was illustrated

with a mystical diagram, in which the zodiacal and planetary signs,

the names of the twelve sons of Jacob and of the twelve disciples of

Christ, were symmetrically arranged in proximity to words denoting

types and attributes of man. This remarkable relic of astrology is

signed " Professor " Faust.

H. Carrington Bolton.

126 yournal of American Folk-Lore.

THE CORPUS CHRISTI FESTIVAL AT ST. MARY'S,PENNSYLVANIA.

The traveller by the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, when in the

heart of the Appalachian chain, comes suddenly upon ;a German

village set in the midst of a green oasis of meadows and'grain fields

reclaimed from the surrounding forests. This village bears the

pretty name of St. Mary's, and is one of the loftiest'^towns in Penn-

sylvania, being situated on the great divide between the waters of

the Susquehanna and the Ohio. Certain Redemptorist fathers and

devout Catholic laymen of Philadelphia and Baltimore founded it as

a Catholic community some fifty-three years ago, and settled it with

adherents of their faith from Alsace, Bavaria, and Belgium. These

people, owing in part no doubt to their isolation, have clung to the

language, customs, dress, and religion of the fatherland with great

tenacity, and form an interesting study for the student of sociology,

who finds here a bit of mediaeval GernSany transplanted to American

soil and flourishing therein. As one walks the streets of St. Mary's

he hears the guttural tongue of the fatherland on every hand, and

sees women in peasant dress busy at household tasks, the weaver at

his hand loom, the butcher, bajifer, and shoemaker plying their craft

in Old World style. There is a German church, German schools,

German societies.

The Redemptorist fathers moved farther west after a time, and

were succeeded by monks of the Benedictine order, who are now the

spiritual fathers of the, "tillage. Christmas and Easter are duly ob-

served, but the great My of the year is the Festival of Corpus Christi,

in honor of Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and the institu-

tion of the Sacranient of the Lord's Supper which followed. Thefestival was observed this year on Sunday, June 20, with great pompand ceremony, and we were so fortunate as to see it. Preparations

for it began in St. Mary's and the outlying farms a week before.

The large and beautiful German Catholic Church, where the proces-

sion was to ;form, was decorated with evergreens and flowers moreprofusely than at Christmas or Easter. On the Saturday before, the

farmers brought green saplings and boughs from the woods and

stuck them in the earth along the route of the procession. Baskets

of cut flowers, green leaves, fresh ferns, and grasses were provided

for strewing in the road before the Host, and in all German homesgreat preparations were made for the feast which was to follow at

the close of the ceremonies, the day having as great significance

in this respect as Thanksgiving in New England. The route of

,/the procession was to be from the German church to the pretty hill-

„ ^- . \ .Tifirf-l'i

Cornell University Library

QB 25.B69

A relic of astrology

3 1924 012 345 389

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